Thefts of motor vehicles have become a serious problem on a virtually worldwide basis. Even more troubling is the clear indication that the problem of vehicle theft is likely to become more serious in the future. The ever increasing number of motor vehicles operated throughout the world together with the greatly increased cost or value of such vehicles leads to ample opportunity and motivation for vehicle thieves. The lifestyle of most motor vehicle owners further exacerbates the problem in that such vehicles are often parked and left unattended for extended periods of time such as all or part of a workday in exposed generally unsecured areas. In addition, vehicle owners are often required by their various needs to park motor vehicles in questionable areas or neighborhoods while they attend to necessary business, amusement or entertainment. Law enforcement officials are simply overwhelmed by the sheer number of motor vehicle thefts and the number of vehicles to be protected and as a result are generally unable to provide any kind of preventative security for motor vehicle owners generally.
As a result of this ever increasing problem, consumer demand for vehicle security systems has risen sharply and shows every evidence of continuing to rise. In the face of such urgent consumer demand, practitioners in the art have endeavored to provide a number of vehicle security systems. These vehicle security systems have assumed a virtually endless variety and extend from relatively simple physical barrier systems to high technology complex systems utilizing sophisticated transmitting and tracking capability. For example, the physical barrier types of vehicle security systems utilize a lockable device usually within the vehicle interior to secure the steering wheel or one or more of the vehicle pedals in an inoperative position. The intent in such physical barrier systems is to simply provide a high visibility deterrent to vehicle thieves and to render the vehicle difficult to operate. Other systems generally referred to as alarm systems utilize various sensors throughout the vehicle to detect tampering or forced entry of the vehicle and thereafter trigger a barrage of sound and flashing lights often using the vehicle horn and lighting system. Still other types of vehicle security systems rely upon disabling the vehicle and rendering it inoperative to the would-be thief. One such system utilizes a multiple contact socket disposed within the vehicle interior which requires the insertion of an appropriately configured or coded key having an interconnecting contact set disposed therein for operation of the vehicle. The recovery aid type vehicle security systems operate from a somewhat different perspective in that they become effective once the vehicle has been taken by the thief to provide tracking information transmissions which a monitoring system utilizes to continuously locate the vehicle and thereby aid law enforcement officials in recovering it.
While the foregoing described prior art systems have enjoyed some measure of success, they generally remain limited in their performance and are often cumbersome or impractical in use. For example, most such systems are relatively inflexible and are not easily adapted to the user's needs. This inflexibility often leads to a compromising of the vehicle security integrity to meet typical lifestyle needs of the user. Several situations repeatedly arise in most vehicle use which are accommodated by compromising vehicle security. For example, situations in which vehicles are valet parked or in which the bonified owner of the vehicle loses the vehicle keys as well as needs to add new drivers or temporarily loan the vehicle to another operator inherently raise situations in which vehicle security is compromised as the situations are accommodated.
There remains, therefore, a continuing need in the art for evermore improved vehicle security systems which exhibit flexibility and which nonetheless maintain vehicle security without compromise.